Wam
Abu Dhabi bourse debut
IT provider outshines main index
Share price ends 7% higher
Shares in Abu Dhabi’s Alpha Data surged on the company’s bourse debut, outperforming a subdued main market index.
The first-day performance of the IT services provider contrasts with the struggles of several companies to list on UAE stock exchanges following initial public offerings in the past 12 months.
Alpha Data ended 7 percent higher at AED1.60 and was the second-most traded stock as 75 million shares changed hands.
The company raised AED600 million ($163 million) in an IPO that sold 40 percent of its stock at AED1.50 per share. Alpha Data has pledged to distribute AED130 million in dividends for the 2025 financial year, also promising to pay out at least 80 percent of its net profit in dividends thereafter.
These commitments probably boosted buying demand among investors and helped the company’s stock surge on its bourse debut.
Supermarket Lulu Retail Holding’s price ended at AED1.25, down 39 percent on its November 2024 IPO price of AED2.04. Similarly, shares in Alef Education have fallen 22 percent versus its June 2024 IPO price. Both companies are listed on Abu Dhabi’s stock exchange.
The emirate’s index ended 0.2 percent lower at 9,376 points, having been down as much as 2 percent in early trade.
Gulf bourses have slid this week, mirroring a broader sell-off on global equity markets and following a renewed slump in oil prices that dragged Brent crude to below $70 and down about 6.6 percent in 2025.
